Office of the Attorney General
State of Texas

You inform us that students of cosmetology sometimes transfer
completed hours of instruction earned at one cosmetology school
or program to another school without having paid tuition to the
school at which the hours were completed. You ask whether the
Texas Cosmetology Commission is authorized to adopt a rule
requiring the payment of tuition before hours may be transferred
for credit.

Although we are of the opinion that the commission is not
authorized to adopt such a rule, we are also of the opinion that
it is appropriate for a school to provide in its contracts with
students that the school will not grant credits for a course or
provide a transcript until fees are paid.

The commission was established under article 8451.a, subsection
4(a), V.T.C.S., which authorizes the commission to issue rules
consistent with the act. Generally, an agency can adopt only
such rules as are authorized by and consistent with its statutory
authority. State Board of Insurance v. Deffebach, 631 S.W.2d
794, 799 (Tex.App.--Austin 1982, writ ref'd n.r.e.). See also
Attorney General Opinions H-147 (1973); O-4090 (1941); O-536
(1939). The manifest intent behind the commission's enabling act
is to regulate the practice and instruction of beauty culture.
The commission is required to license shops, operators, schools,
and instructors. The commission is also authorized to issue
permits to students of beauty culture.

The only provisions in the enabling act that regulate financial
matters between beauty culture schools and their students are
subsections (c) and (d) of section 21. Those subsections provide
for the refund of tuition in cases where a school closes before
the courses of instruction have been completed and where a
student becomes physically incapable of finishing the courses.
Those provisions indicate a legislative understanding that
tuition is paid in advance of instruction and that students might
need protection from the schools rather than the reverse
situation indicated by your question.

Section 23 of the act authorizes students to transfer credits
between schools as follows:

Any student of a private beauty culture school or a
vocational cosmetology program in a public school may transfer
completed hours of instruction to a private beauty culture school
or vocational cosmetology program in a public school in this
state. A transcript showing the number and courses of completed
hours certified by the school in which the instruction was given
must be submitted to the executive director. On evaluation and
approval, the executive director shall certify in writing to the
student and to the school to which the student desires a transfer
that the stated hours and courses have been successfully
completed and that the student is not required to repeat the
instructions.

We are required to read all parts of a statute together to
interpret statutory language, and we believe that the executive
director's "evaluation and approval" required by the above-quoted
section is to be read with the "hours and courses" found later in
the same sentence and "the minimum curricula of the subjects and
hours" established by the commission under section 4(b) of the
act. The commission has authority to adopt rules relating to
"hours and courses" or "subjects and hours" but not relating to
financial matters between the school and the student, other than
refunds as indicated by the discussion of section 21 above.

While we find no authorization for the board to adopt a rule
requiring a student to settle his account with a school before
transferring to another school, neither do we find any
prohibition against a school's ensuring payment through its
contracts with students or through its own rules. Section 23
requires that a school certify a transcript showing the number
and courses of completed hours of instruction prior to the
executive director's evaluation and approval. A contract
provision or rule requiring settlement of obligations to the
school prior to certification would avoid the problem outlined in
your letter. It would seem to be a sound business practice for a
school to ensure that it be paid for the services it renders. In
these circumstances, we think it would be appropriate for the
commission to adopt a rule stating that it is the view of the
commission that schools may include a provision in their
contracts that would require settlement of obligations prior to
the schools' certification of hours and courses.